


How come we never talked about this stuff?

by hotmudwateronice



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Cute, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Mentions of Sex, not graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29187237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotmudwateronice/pseuds/hotmudwateronice
Summary: A slight extension to a scene from Ellie and Dina’s patrol on the Creek Trails.Dina’s a little shit and Ellie’s just embarrassed.
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 99





	How come we never talked about this stuff?

“Do you miss being with him?” Ellie called forward, adjusting Shimmer’s reins to avoid the creek splitting the snow covered earth. 

“With Jesse?” Dina replied with a tiny, barely audible laugh. “No!” She sounds so sure of herself, and it mostly convinces Ellie despite her doubts. 

“You’ve been together for so long.” She has to be sure though. It’s not that she doesn’t believe Dina, who’s always so confident of her feelings, but Ellie just can’t fathom it. How they could’ve spent so much time together and the feelings just disappearing like that. 

“Look, Jesse’s great. I love his parents... They will always be family. But we were just on autopilot.” 

Japan jumps over a log and Ellie watches as Dina gracefully leans into it. 

There’s a niggling feeling inside of Ellie to push it further. They never really spoke about this stuff before. When she’d come to Jackson four years ago, Jesse and Dina were even a thing back then. Young and awkward, especially on Jesse’s part. They weren’t together but it had been clear as the creeks below their horse’s hooves that they had liked each other. And when the two had started dating, it had been natural and nothing much changed between the three of them. 

Sure, Ellie had been jealous... but again, not much had changed. Apart from the knowledge that Jesse and Dina were fucking... 

“Hey,” Ellie calls forward again, using the back of Dina’s head more than her own spatial awareness to guide her and Shimmer between the trees on the incline, “how come we never talked about this stuff?” 

Ellie wasn’t much of a talker; thinking back, she never volunteered to talk about their relationships. But neither did Dina. 

“I don’t know. It didn’t feel...” There’s a pause, and Ellie wonders if she’s overstepped. Dina didn’t miss Jesse, apparently, so she should be okay talking about this. “You never really talked to me about Cat.” 

Oh, Dina’s turning this on her now? 

“Yeah ‘cause— there isn’t much to talk about.” Ellie manages. 

Even if she  did  want to talk about Cat, Dina never gave her much of a chance. Whenever Ellie would invite her to hang out she would decline, say she had something else to do. So when that didn’t work, Ellie would invite Jesse too, but Dina still found an excuse to avoid them. 

“Yoew...” Dina says jokingly. 

Oh fuck, now she’s making out Cat was a bad girlfriend. 

“I just... I got the impression that you didn’t really like her.” 

“I don’t care about her one way or the other.” 

“Okay...” Ellie’s not convinced. Dina  _definitely_ had something against Cat. She just didn’t know what or why. 

“I think she’s a talented artist.” Dina continues, “I’ve grown to like that tattoo of yours.” 

“That’s so big of you.” There’s a  _but_ coming. Ellie can tell from the tone of her voice alone. She doesn’t even need to see Dina’s face. 

“... _and_ I think she wasn’t right for you.” 

“Interesting.” Ellie says through a smirk. 

“Shut up.” Dina says abruptly, but Ellie knows she’s teasing. The low tone of her voice gives it away. 

But Ellie has to know more. Maybe they _should_ talk about this stuff. They are best friends after all. Best friends who kissed... 

“So... why wasn’t she right for me?” Ellie presses before clicking at Shimmer to pick up the pace a little. They end up a couple of feet behind Dina. 

“You’re not still hung up on her are you?” 

“No, of course not. I’d like to know why you think that, though. That she wasn’t right for me.” 

“I don’t know. You’re just too good for her. Is she even your type?” 

Ellie laughs lowly and busies her free hand by stroking Shimmer’s neck. “I dunno... I’m not sure I really have a type? Jackson doesn’t really offer a lot of options for the gay folk.” 

“Doesn’t it? I can think of more than just Cat.” 

Ellie’s really not sure what Dina means by that, so decides to answer her question with a question. “Well what’s your type then?” 

Dina ducks under a branch, narrowly avoiding a shower of snow. Ellie follows a little less gracefully, soft snow falling into her hair and on her shoulders. Shimmer whines lowly whilst Ellie dusts it off. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” 

“Yeah, I would. That’s why I’m asking.”

“I dunno.” She shrugs, looks over her shoulder to flash a perfect smile. “Did you love her?” 

“Cat? I—I don’t know. Kinda?” 

“What’s that mean? You kinda did, kinda didn’t? Make it make sense, Ellie.” 

“I think I did.” Ellie shrugs, feeling a bit awkward. Maybe this is why they didn’t talk about this stuff. She’s no good at it. “It just didn’t—we didn’t—“ a huff leaves her mouth before a long sigh. “We were good. But I needed time to figure stuff out, you know?” 

Needed to figure out what to do with the crushing knowledge that her immunity could’ve been _something_ ,  but ended up being  _nothing_.  Truthfully she still didn’t know, it still kept her up at night, but after her talk with Joel last night, the mist seemed just a little bit clearer. 

“No, I get you. Remind me again how long you guys were together?” 

Mouth twisting, Ellie ponders. Her relationship with Cat was long enough that things got serious between them, but it was mixed in with the whole Joel thing. She hadn’t been in the best mind frame for quite a while before and after finding out about the truth. Cat had picked up on it just before she ran away and the cracks in their relationship started to splinter. 

“Uhh, just under a year maybe? Something like that. I’m not too sure.” 

“She can’t have been that good of a girlfriend if you can’t remember.” Dina quips with a smirk. “Was she good in bed?” 

Blood immediately rushes to Ellie’s ears. How Dina can talk about this so casually is just... too much. Dina laughs out loud, eying Ellie over her shoulder. “What? You’re shy now?” 

“That’s a bit personal isn’t it?” Ellie tries to sound cool about it but it comes out a little clogged. 

“You’re the one that wanted to talk about this shit.” 

“I know but I didn’t think you’d ask  _that_.” 

“Big, tough Ellie too scared to talk about sex? I should’ve known. It’s real cute when you get all shy like that.” 

“I’m not—ugh, you’re infuriating, you know that?” 

“That’s why you love me.” 

“Is it? You’re pestering me.”

“Again -  you  wanted to talk about this.” 

“Yeah—cause I thought— maybe you wanted to?” 

“I’m good. Really.” Dina says, sure of herself. She turns and flashes Ellie a smile over her shoulder and Ellie gushes, wanting nothing more than to kiss her again. She really is beautiful. 

Ellie finds herself unconsciously scratching the back of her neck, unsure of herself, unsure of what to say or do next. The memories of their kiss last night are still fresh in her mind. 

It exhilarates her and dampens her mood at the same time. The kiss had been amazing, wonderful, something Ellie had been fantasising about for months - fuck, maybe even years. 

On the other hand, however, Dina had been pretty drunk. She had purposely taken Ellie’s hand in her own right in front of Jesse, possibly to make him jealous? 

But if Dina said she didn’t care for him anymore... 

God it’s fucking confusing. 

“How does it work anyway?” Dina asks suddenly, tearing Ellie from her thoughts. 

“What?”

“Don’t you play dumb with me, El. Lesbian sex, dummy.” 

“I’m not talking about this with you. I’m sure you have an imagination.” 

“Oh, I do. I was just gonna ask you for a few tips, that’s all.” 

“What?”  _What the fuck?_ Dina’s doing a great job at winding her up. It’s past the point of being funny now. 

Dina barks a laugh that causes Ellie’s stomach to flutter.

Dina never does reply, instead guiding Japan forward, further away, but always in sight. Like she knows Ellie is watching her, always following. 

They ride in silence for a little while. Ellie’s mind replays everything that’s happened in the past 12 hours. The kiss, Seth, her talk with Joel, her talk with Dina... Fuck, her brain is scrambled right now. 

“Ellie?” 

“Hm?” 

“Are you still blushing?” 

Dina’s not even  looking  at her and she _knows_. 

“No!” 

“Hmm... if you say so.” 

“I’m not!” Her body is betraying her, she can feel her ears burning despite how cold out it is. She’s pretty sure she’s sweating, too. Great. 

“Ellie?” 

“Yeah?” 

“You’re cute.” 

“...shut up.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Just something that’s been sat in my notes for a while. I haven’t been writing anything new recently because I’ve been pretty sick and my energy is spent getting through education and eating cheap ramen twice a day. 
> 
> I really wish we got to see more of Cat. I have questions that need answers. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
